Middelkerke

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Middelkerke
Middelkerke wapen.svg Vlag middelkerke.jpg
Middelkerke (West Flanders Province)
Middelkerke
Middelkerke
State : BelgiumBelgium Belgium
Region : Flanders
Province : West Flanders
District : East End
Coordinates : 51 ° 11 ′  N , 2 ° 49 ′  E Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′  N , 2 ° 49 ′  E
Area : 75.65 km²
Residents: 19,336 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density: 256 inhabitants per km²
Post Code: 8430 (Middelkerke)
8431 (Wilskerke)
8432 (Leffinge)
8433 (Mannekensvere, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapelle, Slijpe)
8434 (Lombardsijde, Westende)
Prefix: 059
Mayor: Jean-Marie Dedecker ( Lijst Dedecker )

Local government address : 		Gemeentehuis Middelkerke
Spermaliestraat 1
8430 Middelkerke
Website: www.middelkerke.be
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Middelkerke is a district of the municipality of the same name in the province of West Flanders in Belgium and is located on the North Sea coast .

center

There are four stops in the longest tram line in the world, Kusttram , which connects all places on the Belgian North Sea coast from De Panne in the southwest to Knokke in the northeast.

Districts

The villages of Leffinge, Lombardsijde, Mannekensvere, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapelle, Slijpe, Westende and Wilskerke belong to the municipality of Middelkerke. Middelkerke itself, Lombardsijde and Westende are on the coast, while Leffinge, Mannekensvere, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapelle, Slijpe and Wilskerke are typical Flemish inland villages.

# District Height above sea level population
I. Middelkerke 5.08 7398
II West end 7.60 5501
III Lombardsijde 1.79 1390
IV Wilskerke 5.06 827
V Leffinge 20.46 2437
VI Slijpe 17.54 989
VII Mannekensvere 6.58 271
VIII Schore 6.70 219
IX Sint-Pieters Chapel 4.84 230

The municipality of Middelkerke extends up to 10 kilometers inland and borders the following sub-municipalities:

Middelkerke, sub and neighboring municipalities. Yellow areas are built-up settlement centers.

  • Middelkerke Beach

  • In the dunes

  • Beach entrance

Demographic development

  • No information until 1806; up to and including 1970 by December 31; thereafter population on January 1st
  • 1971: Transfer of Raversijde to the municipality of Ostend (−2.06 km² with 1,140 inhabitants)
  • 1977: Connection of Leffinge, Spermalie, Westende and Wilskerke and transfer of parts of Lombardsijde to Nieuwpoort (+70.57 km² with 9,551 inhabitants)

Attractions

Casino

View of the casino

A Norman-style casino was built in 1954 on the sea dike in Middelkerke across from Epernayplein. In addition to the game room, the building also had a so-called baccarat hall (event hall), in which numerous events took place every year. At the beginning of 2018, the aging casino was canceled; Work on the new building is to begin in autumn 2018.

Drunk Fountain (Dronkenput)

It was originally built as an underground water reservoir in the late 19th century to store drinking water for the community. When the groundwater rose, the whole thing was pushed up and came to the surface. The walls leaning towards the water level give the visitor the feeling of being drunk. This is where the name "Dronkenput" came from.

Sint-Willibrordus Church (Sint-Willibrorduskerk)

Sint-Willibrorduskerk, south side

The Sint-Willibrordus Church is the parish church of Middelkerke. Apart from the doors, which are relics from the 17th century, the church was largely demolished in the 19th century and replaced by a neo-Gothic church. In the 1930s the southern part was expanded and the church got a second door.

Parish hall

Parish hall

In 1893 the parish council agreed on the use of the former parish as a parish hall. After the First World War , it was rebuilt between 1924 and 1925 and is about the same size as the original structure. The building has been a listed building since 2002.

Events

A comic strip festival takes place in Middelkerke every year . In order to honor the name stripgemeente ('Stripgemeinde'), there are still images of various cartoon characters placed on the sea dyke. Figures that have a statue in Middelkerke are:

Sons and daughters of the church

Town twinning

Middelkerke maintains town twinning with the following cities :

Web links

Commons : Middelkerke  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alternatively, Lombardsijde is also known as Lombardzyde.